Category Archives: Everyday observations

Some people are dog people. Some are cat people. I am both, but for many years we have had only cats because we have so many outside the home responsibilities and cats are better with being home alone. For eight years I rode in a semi with my hubby around the 48 states and Canada and we had no pets. I have since settled with our adult hearing-impaired daughter in her apartment (not exactly by choice, but by God’s loving provision, and that is another story for another time). We built a house and now hubby has a place to come to when he can get off the road.

Victoria I have been blessed to become housemates with Ruth, a Siamese/Tabby mix she got from a shelter to be a hearing aid cat. If you’ve never hear of a hearing aid cat, you’re not alone. She hoped to be able to train this kitty to let her know when things are happening that she might not be able to hear. We also hoped Ruth would be a good friend and companion for Vicky as a single young woman.

Well, I’m not sure who is getting trained all the time, but this cat is daily a wonder and a blessing from God. She runs to the door anytime anyone is approaching or making noises outside. She always knows when it is time for “mommy” or “grandma” or even “Grandpa” to come home and sits waiting at the door for that happy occasion.

She even lets us know when it’s time to get up mornings with a jump on the bed or a pat on the face (or whiskers in the face or a lick on the eyelids). Ruthie is very vocal and lets us know by meows that sound a lot like words sometimes that we need to get ready for work or shut a window or door against loud noises (she doesn’t like mowers or trash trucks). When anyone is sick she will sit with them on a raised recliner seat sharing fuzzy warmth. And sometimes she goes off and leaves us alone.

So here’s what I’ve learned from Ruthie that I’m figuring out how to apply to my own life:

Service gives opportunities for praise and reward (All a cat asks for in return for being our living alarm is meals, treats, “rubbies,” and occasional “conversations” because she is so vocal).

Nobody’s perfect (she doesn’t like to be hugged or held but she is learning to tolerate it from “mommy.” And boy she does shed! She is also not a fan of Grandpa playing music on the computer. The high notes make her ears twitch.)

It doesn’t take much to be a mood-lifter (just seeing her on “bug patrol” by the front door or having her curl up next to you is enough).

Comfort doesn’t mean smother (She’ll sit at the very edge of the bed or seat and not intrude on what you’re doing).

Active time (running up and down the stairs was one of her favorites), social time, and alone time are all important. Life is about balance.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says He has made everything beautiful in its time. So it is with Ruthie.

Westminster Shorter Catechism: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:14

Let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good actions and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Every believer I know agrees that every thought and action should glorify God; many with a shrug. because it should go without saying. But many who call themselves believers simply are not living this way.

However, when the woman saw that the tree produced good food, was attractive in appearance, and was desirable for making one wise, she took of its fruit and ate it. Then she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate some, too. As a result, they both understood what they had done, and they became aware that they were naked. Genesis 3:6,7

“If you think it’s the wrong thing for you to serve the Lord [Wrong; certainly not. Inconvenient at times. It’s just that serving the Lord isn’t always the thing I want to do.], then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve—the gods whom your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose territories you are living. (Certainly not. My gods were only invented a few years ago.) But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

There will be suffering and anguish for every human being who practices doing evil, for Jews first and for Greeks as well. But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who practices doing good. Romans 2:9,10

Who are you to tell me that doing what I enjoy is evil?

I therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect. Romans 12:1,2

“To the messenger of the church in Laodicea, write:
‘The Amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the originator of God’s creation, says this:‘I know your actions, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. Since you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich. I have become wealthy. I don’t need anything.” Yet you don’t realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore, I advise you to buy from me gold purified in fire so you may be rich, white clothes to wear so your shameful nakedness won’t show, and ointment to put on your eyes so you may see. I correct and discipline those whom I love, so be serious and repent! Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me. I will give a place to sit with me on my throne to the one who overcomes, just as I have overcome and have sat down with my Father on his throne. Revelation 3:14-21

Jesus and the disciples attended Jewish synagogues and temple worship. These services included stringed, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The book of Psalms was the hymn book of the second temple. After finishing the Passover meal they sang a hymn, presumably not a Psalm, and presumably without instruments, before walking across the Kidron Valley to the garden of Gethsemane. Until forced out, first century Christians continued to worship in synagogues and follow Jewish customs.

Paul wrote to the new Gentile converts “Let the word of the Messiah inhabit you richly with wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and singing to God with thankfulness in your hearts.” Colossians 3:16 and “Then you will recite to one another psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; you will sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts,” Ephesians 5:19. This admonition was taken by some to mean antiphonal singing, with either two choirs or dividing the congregation into two parts and alternating the parts of the hymn or song.

Pliny the Younger wrote a letter to Trajan (61-113) about the proper punishment of Christians. “They had been accustomed to come together on a fixed day before daylight and to sing responsively a song to Christ as God.” (AD 112?)

Five times in the book of Revelation a song is sung in heaven; 5:9, 5:11, 14:1, 14:3, 15:3. Harps are played heaven. Revelation 5:8, 14:2, and 15:2. The musical instruments of Babylon are condemned, Revelation 18:22. Trumpets in heaven are sounded, but not used as musical instruments. Zechariah 9:14, Matthew 24:31, 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Hebrews 12:19, Revelation 1:10, 4:1, 8:2, 6,7,8,10,12,13, 9:1,13,14

Justin the Martyr wrote (AD 155?) in his Apology to the Emperor Chapter 13 “to use [material possessions] for ourselves and those who need, and with gratitude to Him to offer thanks by invocations and hymns for our creation …”

“Chapter 41. The crucifixion predicted And again, in another prophecy, the Spirit of prophecy, through the same David, intimated that Christ, after He had been crucified, should reign, and spoke as follows: Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and day by day declare His salvation. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, to be feared above all the gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols of devils; but God made the heavens. Glory and praise are before His face, strength and glorying are in the habitation of His. Give Glory to the Lord, the Father everlasting. Receive grace, and enter His presence, and worship in His holy courts. Let all the earth before His face; let it be established, and not shaken. Let them rejoice among the nations. The Lord has reigned from the tree.”

Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome, approximately AD 235? “Then, rising up after supper, the children and virgins having prayed, they shall sing psalms. Then the deacon, holding the mixed cup of the offering, shall say a Hallelujah Psalm. Then, the presbyter having commanded, ‘And also such-and-such Psalms,’ after the bishop has offered the cup with the proper thanksgiving, all shall say “Hallelujah” as the Psalms are sung. And they shall say: We praise Him who is God most high; Glorified and praised is He, Then, when the Psalm is completed, he shall give thanks over the bread, and shall give the fragments to all the believers.”

Music had only two purposes in the earliest Church. It was used to instruct, build up, edify, believers. It was also used in direct address to God to worship God. There are no recorded instances of performing music to please those who listened. Performing music just to please the listeners has been condemned as a sin by thousands of pastors for over 1500 years. At the same time, music to glorify God is essential to worship in the Christian Church. The Spirit of the prophet must be controlled by the prophet and this includes music.
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Friends, other people; it really is that simple. If I could, I would leave. But the people I like and often love are not on these other sites. These are people I trust. Friends who supply better news links than the MSN, better sports analysis than ESPN, funny animal videos, wacky UFO/paranormal humor, touching military stories, interesting cars and hobbies, history and science links, and many other things I usually cannot imagine.

Facebook is public. Never, ever post anything you will not stand by in the future. And do not ever quote other people out of context. Like most of my friends, I wish Facebook was like it was ten years ago when I first joined. Every change (update) has degraded the Facebook experience. It used to be faster, easier to find what you wanted, and was not drowning in leftist political censorship.

Like many people, I spend too much time on Facebook. My tablet makes typing responses almost impossible. And I post things things I shouldn’t even think. But these are my sins. Facebook makes my sins public. Closing my Facebook account will not make me less of a sinner. It will make my sins less public. But I glorify God by confessing and forsaking my sins, not hiding them. Facebook, at least for me, is the opportunity to confront my sinful nature and ask the Spirit of God to both forgive me for the sins I post and to not commit the same sins in the future.

Welcome to our updated and upgraded blog. You will find some new images and videos. We also now have no ads and our own domain, elkjerkyforthesoul.com. A little less to type, or to copy and paste. A little more to make things simpler and clearer, we hope. We hope you like the changes, and that you’ll let us know how we can continue to make the blog a better experience for you.

May God bless you in this new year and help you to serve Him better and love Him more.

Yesterday in our Sunday school class we were talking about the true meaning of the Sabbath. Some people believe the Sabbath is obsolete because it was part of the law. But Jesus kept the Sabbath, and never said we shouldn’t. He often said, however, that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. He also said the Jewish leaders burdened people with wrong ideas about the Sabbath. They condemned Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, but He quite rightly pointed out that they would not hesitate to water and feed their livestock or pull them out of pits on the Sabbath. To these Jewish leaders, their Sabbath rules were a means to control people.

Sometimes we think God is trying to control us. Many people say that is why they reject Jesus Christ and salvation, because they see it as a loss of freedom. They will be burdened with a heavy list of rules to follow, a life filled with “don’ts” that will make them miserable.

I want to share the whole 58th chapter of Isaiah because it is so fantastic on the subject of real reasons to do real things for God. But I’ll just share verses 13 and 14 and stick with the Sabbath discussion. God had a very different view of the Sabbath from the Pharisees and Sadducees, I think.

“If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (NASB)

Yes, we have to turn away from our own pleasure. But look! We can call the Sabbath a delight. People are fond of “name it, claim it” theology and visualization. This is a place where it works. Call the Sabbath a delight and it will be. You will also get to take delight in the Lord. Imagine how it would feel to “ride on the heights!”

What is the heritage of Jacob? Maybe he’s not our father, if we are not literal children of Israel, but God gave Jacob, who was a most imperfect man, as are we all, huge blessings. Salvation is by grace, and was even for Jacob, and salvation puts us into God’s family. In Christ we can claim God’s blessings. God wants to feed us, and send us soaring like that daddy who swings his little one up in the air and makes him scream with joy.

So instead of grumbling about all God is going to make us do, why don’t we make a change in our thinking? That’s all God really wanted us to do, with all the laws and regulations and commandments. Love God, love your neighbor. Jesus said these fulfill the commandments. It’s not a burden. It’s a delight.

Some people make “To Do” lists. What if we made a “To God” list, committing our day to God and seeking just to delight in Him, to honor Him, and see if we can’t get that ride to the height, and that feeding from His bounty?

What would your “To God” list look like? We’d love to have you share it with us.

I work at a major retailer and try to provide customer service to many people from other countries setting here in the United States. I don’t know their legal status and that isn’t what this post is about. I do believe people should enter their chosen country legally and that they should learn the language of that country. However, when it comes to America and its language, that could be more difficult than it first appears.

English is probably the number two most difficult languages in the world to learn. Chinese is supposed to be more difficult.

Even if you get a handle on basic communication of the spoken language, you might still be defeated when it comes to the written language. (example: I have had people show me their smart phone with a picture of the item they need to find. They can say a few words to me but they can’t get out the whole message of what they need.)

Going beyond the written language, there is the symbolic language of advertising and product packaging. This is where I really want to start explaining how hard American English is to understand.

I have had people ask me to help them find the right size of diapers. They look at a package and see a visual assault of varieties and sizes. Which blocks of graphics with numbers are sizes and which refer to weight of child, age of child, type of diaper, amount of time it should last before needing to be changed? Whew! I have a lot of compassion for people who have to try to figure this out.

A little family of four was out shopping and the father needed a belt. He brought me an extra large one. He had no idea how to figure out which one he really needed. I ended up having to go back with him and put belts around him until we came up with a 34-36 waist. So I showed him belts that had numbers instead of small, medium, large, or extra large, and with a lot of pantomime, I hope he found what he needed.

Many items no longer have a numerical price printed on them. Just a barcode and its numbers representing the UPC code that contains pricing information. We have a scanner near my work area but sometimes the results are frustrating. Why is this on a sales rack but not on sale? Did someone forget to change it in the system, or did another shopper just drop it off on the rack where they found cheaper items? Even people who speak English have trouble understanding that. One person showed me two items, one of which was on sale, the other seemed at least similar, but was not on sale. She could not understand that I did not have the authority to give her the sale price on the second item because it was not the same thing. She stood around for a good while as if waiting for circumstances to change, occasionally saying phrases like, “Okay, see you again sometime,” but clearly not really knowing what they meant.

Back to the people showing the picture on the smart phone. Say they want laundry detergent. I can take them to that aisle, but when they get there will they be able to sort out what the different products do? I can’t read their minds and know what they are really looking for. The variety and choices for an ordinary American are bewildering. What if you can barely (or still can’t) make out what the words on the package mean even after you have some basic conversational English down?

I remember an old illustration told as a story of some people arriving in the United States, going to a store, and happily coming home with a can displaying a beautiful picture of fried chicken. They opened the can and found … solid vegetable shortening. Is it clear, what’s in that can, even if you know a fair amount of English?

A couple of examples on the other side of the coin. A woman who spoke very good English demanded a discount on a clothing item that was supposed to be two pieces (top and bottoms) but had only one of the pieces. I pointed out to her that it was already half price. She said, “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying.” I replied that I did understand but she still walked away angry that I wouldn’t just give her what she wanted — an even lower price. Another person called the store, I answered, and she wanted to know when customer service closed. I gave her the time, only twenty minutes or so in the future. She said, “But I’m on my way there now. They aren’t going to close early and I won’t be able to do my business?” I repeated the closing time three times, while she got more angry. In effect, insisted that I was personally going to cheat her out of the chance to get her business done because I would not assure her that Customer Service was not going to be closed when she got there. She used an obscenity to express my lack of ability to communicate to her satisfaction. Both of us spoke perfect English. No real communication took place.

Just sharing a few thoughts so that we can be more compassionate when someone who doesn’t know English as well as we would like comes up to us and needs help. Give that help. As much as you can.

And when your English and my English are just fine and we interact, but you aren’t satisfied with the outcome, please remember that civility costs nothing, and treat me and my fellow retailers with compassion too.